Police officers shouldn't be humourless bill collectors

OTTAWA — Fifty years ago automated licence plate recognition (ALPR) wasn’t in the thoughts of police, but a potential effect of that kind of technology was being talked about, and resisted.

In 1960 policing was a male-only job. Many of those wearing the blue were veterans of the Second World War and still under 40. They had no objection to a young police reporter joining them for an end-of-shift beer break. He would have to leave the table if anything delicate came under discussion, but I don’t recall that happening.

A cop concern at the time was the issuing of parking tickets. Many officers felt it put them in the role of revenue generators, widening the routes to the taxpayer pocket. They had signed up to serve and protect, not catch and collect. They didn’t want to be seen in a Robin Hood story as the sheriff’s men. They pressured for a bylaw enforcement arm that would separate them from the sting of parking fines, and in so doing cracked open the door to female police officers.

The first step was meter maids, uniformed female bylaw officers. From those ranks would emerge a few years later the first female police officers. Police put effort into on-the-street public relations. They walked beats, got to know the folks, and built trust. The message was: I’m here to help, and your help when needed would be appreciated.

Time and technology changed, and police slipped into new roles. Some cast them as sheriff’s agents. Safety lane stop-and-check programs are an example. A citizen can be stung twice. First there’s a fine for something like an unfastened seat belt or another safety violation, and it can then result in a hike to one’s insurance rate. From my perch as watcher, there are few cut-‘em-a-break warnings now. Gotcha. Pay up.

Now plate recognition is coming into play. A device attached to the roof of a police car can constantly scan and read thousands of plates as the camera car moves about. In many jurisdictions unpaid fines are now attached to licence plates.

It will be a small step to include police in a new money stream. It could be more than collecting a fine. In some jurisdictions in Quebec when police check a plate and find a fine owed, you can be taken to the police station and held until you pay. If you don’t have the money or a friend to bail you out, your car will be towed. There will be towing and impound lot charges.

Recently in this column a story of an Ottawa man’s safety lane ticket in Saskatchewan was told. He was charged with using a cellphone while driving. He wanted police to check his cellphone. Its records would show it hadn’t been used for weeks. Tell it to the judge. He was told his only course was to travel back to attend Westminster court, or pay the ticket. He eventually sent $280.

Now there’s a citizen out there, if he comes upon an officer trying to push his cruiser out of a snowbank and needs only one more strong back, will likely drive by. Police should be able to depend on help and support from the laity. Serving the sheriff’s endless grab for money is bad public relations. It crosses boundaries. The Westminster attitude affects police everywhere.

It’s human nature to watch others do a job, and think we could do it better. This is not such a case. This is an opinion from a longtime supporter of police who has watched a growing divide between the public and their protectors. I see it in coffee shops. Uniformed officers do not engage the public. Probably there’s risk of running into a cranky person who would misinterpret something said in humour. Such people are a minority. Play to the majority.

Two years ago in New York City I joined a crowd around a police cruiser. A male officer with movie star good looks was in the process of arresting a female visitor for being too good looking, and therefore a traffic hazard. She was probably a grandmother, and average. Her “arrest” was being recorded by her friends and dozens of others who gathered to watch. The officer was a natural performer and collected many laughs.

That playful officer was a great public image booster. People from his street audience would carry an improved image of police across the country. A co-operative public is still the greatest tool.

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